[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Limited.] Substantial volume (sometimes ascribed to J. V. Harrison containing around a hundred 'Geological Air Photographs of South West Persia', text and colour-keyed diagrams. One of fifty copies.

Copy No. 11 of (according to one catalogue entry) a total of fifty. On 47 card leaves, in substantial 59 x 33 cm landscape volume, with thumb-index. In substantial burgundy faux leather binding, attached with black strap and buckle. Stamped in gilt on front board: 'GEOLOGICAL AIR PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOUTH WEST PERSIA| COPY NO. 11 PRODUCED BY ANGLO-IRANIAN OIL COMPANY LIMITED'. Note on front pastedown (with map of the Persian Gulf): 'The Photographs in this Album were taken and reproduced by Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd. for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Ltd.' Text and diagrams printed on paper, cut to size and laid down on the leaves of the album, with photographs (many with accompanying printed tracings) either laid down or loose in cellophane wallets. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with five of the photographs missing, and slight damage to a couple of others, as well as to a few of the guards and the thumb index. Withdrawn bookplate of King's College Library, London, on front pastedown, and that institution's small neat stamp in gilt on front board. The item is undated, but certainly dates from after June 1949, as it contains a reference to a 'recent paper' of that date, and before 1954, when the company was renamed British Petroleum. The 94 photographic prints (30 laid down and 64 loose in cellophane wallets) include several 'stereopairs'. All are all in black and white, and they range in size from 25 x 22 cm to about 23.5 x 16.5 cm. Around forty of the photographs are accompanied by a semi-transparent guard, on which a tracing of significant features has been made. The volume also contains 34 colour-keyed diagrams, many (between 1931 and 1935) with 'AUTHOR: J. V. HARRISON', and others ascribed to J. P. Verteuil (dated to May 1949), J. Nason-Jones (December 1925) P. T. Cox (one dated to May 1946), A. Allison and V. H. Boileau, and another 'After Lehner 1938'. The volume begins with 'Introduction', 'Generalised Stratigraphy and Legend' (with colour key) and 'Photogrammetric Notes'. The following material is divided into three main sections, each with its own table of contents, and a total of 42 numbered subsections. The three main sections are as follows. ONE: 'Obliques Only', in seventeen numbered parts (beginning with '1. Anticlines. Synclines. Rockfall | 2. Saidmarreh Landslip | 3. Sinuous anticline. Kabir Kuh', and ending with '15. Thrust Block. Syncline. Anticline Zardeh Kuh, Bazuft Valley, Mafarun Khu. | 16. Lower Fars Plateau. Near Masjid-i-Sulaiman | 17. Overturned and thrust Lower Fars. E. of Ram Hormuz'). TWO: 'Obliques and Verticals, in fifteen numbered parts (beginning with '1. Normal Faulting. Khu-i-Asmari'). THREE: 'Verticals', in ten numbered parts (beginning with '1. Sharp Anticline and Syncline. Mio Pliocene'. The introduction reads: 'There are few countries in the world where geological structure is more magnificently displayed than in South West Persia. This is due to a combination of geological and climatic circumstances which does not usually occur in one area; in particular a semi-arid climate, a reasonably heavy rainfall confined to five winter months, and a boldness of stratigraphy and structure very favourable for the working of geo-morphological processes. | This album contains a representative selection of interesting and informative geological air photographs of South West Persia arranged, with generalised descriptive data, in such a way that they can be studied without other assistance. It is thought that it will not only prove useful to students but will also provide an understanding of the nature of the country which can otherwise only be obtained by much travel and field work.' Professor E. A. Vincent has noted that it was the decade Harrison spent in Persia that saw 'his greatest geological achievements and his emergence as one of the great structural geologists of his time'. In his entry on Harrison in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Vincent states that it was 'the work in Persia for which he became best-known. Harrison's gifts of observation coupled with vivid geological imagination enabled him to visualize in three dimensions the large-scale geological structures with which he was confronted, particularly in the Zagros Mountains, and the sometimes singular processes which had given rise to them. Striking results emerged from arduous fieldwork carried out in the roughest of terrains; it is said that many mules died nobly in Harrison's service in Persia. Among some forty published papers, those with G. M. Lees on salt dome emplacement and with N. L. Falcon on gravitational tectonics long retained classic status.' No copy at the British Library, and only six copies on OCLC WorldCat and COPAC.